


That Sinking Feeling

by Rose_of_Pollux



Series: October 2020 writing challenge [14]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27166205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: Berries that are good for Pokémon are not necessarily fit for human consumption
Series: October 2020 writing challenge [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981039
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	That Sinking Feeling

As the oldest of ten siblings, Brock knew from experience that been awakened at 3:00 in the morning was never a good sign. As much as he’d hoped he wouldn’t have to go through that once he started his journey on the road with his new friends, it would’ve been unrealistic for things to have never gone wrong.

And, sure enough, one night, as he rested in the forest checkpoint cabin where they had set up shelter in for the night, he found himself being awakened by Pikachu frantically scratching at his shoulder.

“Pikachuuu! Pikapi pika pika chuu!”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Brock asked.

He sat up, glancing in the direction where Pikachu was pointing; he was pointing at Ash’s bunk—and from the light of the lantern Brock now lit to see what was going on, it was clear that Ash was in pain of some kind—his face was pale and covered in sweat, and he appeared to be doubled over in his bunk.

“Ash!” Brock exclaimed, heading over to him. “Ash, can you tell me what’s wrong!?”

Ash winced.

“St… stomach…” he managed to say.

Two possible causes to the problem crossed Brock’s mind—a stomach bug, or food poisoning. There hadn’t been anything in the news of a bug going around—and, indeed, they’d been out in the woods, having met no one they could’ve contracted it from.

That left food poisoning. And that didn’t make sense, either; they’d all eaten the same food they’d been eating for days—Brock’s painstakingly crafted stews and sandwiches. If there’d been anything wrong with any of the food, they’d have all felt sick.

Brock now headed over to Misty’s bunk and gently shook her awake.

“Misty? Hey, Misty? Misty!”

“Whaaaaaaat?” she grumped.

“How are you feeling?”

She gave him a look of incredulous frustration.

“Did you seriously wake me up at _three in the morning_ to ask me that!?”

“Yes, now could you just answer the question, please?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” she said, the tranquil fury evident in her voice. “But you won’t be once I—”

“Hold that thought,” Brock said, and he headed back to Ash’s bunk, where Pikachu was pacing in concern.

Misty’s expression softened as she realized something was wrong with Ash, and as Brock now soaked a handkerchief with water from a canteen and placed it on Ash’s forehead.

“…Is he gonna be okay?” she asked.

“I have to find out what’s wrong first,” Brock said. “It looks like it could’ve been something he ate, but we ate the same things—if something was wrong with that, we should’ve felt it, too.”

Pikachu suddenly looked to Brock in surprise.

“Pikachuu! Pika pika!” he exclaimed, tugging on Brock’s sleeve. He then bounded to the door of the cabin that lead deeper into the woods, and looked back at Brock expectantly.

“I think he wants you to follow him,” Misty said.

“Ash did go into the woods earlier for firewood,” Brock recalled. “Maybe Pikachu saw him eat something.”

Pikachu nodded and motioned for Brock to follow.

“Look after Ash ‘til I get back,” he instructed, before grabbing a flashlight and following the mouse.

“Right,” she promised.

Brock kept up with Pikachu as he led him to a thicket of berry bushes. Brock shined his flashlight on them, and then pulled a guidebook from his pocket. They were an odd-looking bunch of berries—half blue and half green.

“You’re sure Ash ate some of these berries?” Brock asked.

Pikachu nodded, pointed to himself, and ate a berry. He then moved his ears to resemble Ash’s hair and ate a second berry.

“I get it—you had some of the berries, and Ash assumed they were okay.”

Pikachu nodded again, looking guilty as Brock consulted the guidebook again.

“‘Apicot berries,’” he read. “‘Though edible for Pokémon, increasing their special defense stats in battle, it is not recommended for human consumption, as its effects on humans result in temporary stomach discomfort lasting about a day.’ …Welp, the good news is that Ash will be back on his feet before we know it. We just have to keep an eye on him today and make sure he gets enough fluids.”

“Cha…”

Pikachu still looked upset, and Brock realized why.

“Hey,” he said, gently giving him a scratch behind the ears. “This isn’t your fault. Your instincts told you these berries were alright, and they were for you. You couldn’t have known their effects on humans.”

“Pi…”

“But we’ve all learned something from this,” Brock added. “From now on, we check the guidebook—and just to be on the safe side, we’ll check the guidebook even if it’s just you or any of the other Pokémon trying something. Come on, let’s get back and tell Misty. And I’m sure Ash would prefer it if you were there helping to look after him. Okay?”

“Pika!”

He seemed to perk up at that, leaping onto Brock’s shoulder as he headed back to the cabin. Once there, he broke the news to a relieved Misty, and then, as Pikachu remained on sentry duty by Ash’s side, Brock searched their first aid kit until he found something that the guidebook said would help relieve the symptoms; Ash managed to drink a little bit of it and then managed to finally get some sleep, which Misty took as a sign that all was getting better, and she returned to her bunk to sleep, as well.

And Brock got the fireplace going once again, opting to stay awake just in case.

They’d gotten off relatively easy this time; and he would be far more vigilant now, for all of their sakes.


End file.
